Anyone own a business with DH (or DW or DP)?

[Jessica]

My DH and I are considering a major lifestyle change. He has a job that requires him to travel nearly every week and work 80+ hours a week, and we are having a baby and he doesn't want to be gone that much. I am a freelance writer and plan to write part-time after a short maternity leave.

Long-term, we would like to own our own business. I realize that will not necessarily reduce work hours, but in our thinking, it would give us more time with our child and DH would not have as much travel. He has an MBA and 10 years of experience in management consulting and I've run my own (very small) writing business for five years, so we know a little bit about business. We also are complementary; DH is great with the big picture and I am a detail person, plus I love to schmooze and deal with people and he is happy running numbers and more or less being left alone.

Two issues--we aren't sure exactly what kind of business would suit us and our skills, and we don't know what it is like to run a family business (although I have several entrepreneurs in my family). Does anyone have any experiences to share? We're in the exploration stage right now, so any input is appreciated.

Thanks so much!

[dreamer]

Jessica-
I enjoyed reading your very well thought out post. DH & I have worked together (awhile back) but we don't have children- I'm sure you'll get lots of replies from people with situations more closely akin to yours now, but I just wanted to make one observation. I was impressed with how clearly you seemed to know both you and DH's skills and proclivities- but I think what's going to be tricky is, as people say, "a baby changes everything." It's going to be hard to predict exactly how you'll both feel about everything after having your baby, so possibly this is a tricky time (including financially) to make a change from DH having an employer to starting your own business. But on the other hand, I can see why this is exactly the time you want to make the change, so DH will travel less. I have made some big life changes, and know it takes courage but can be very important to do. Best wishes to you!
-dreamer

[LakeMartinGal]

Hi, Jessica --

I was interested to see your post. DH and I had a business together (I was the office person, DH was still on the road :( several days a week). We had teenagers at the time. It made us a lot of money, and it had always been DH's dream to have his own business. Unfortunately, we had partners, and that didn't go too well.

I agree with Dreamer that you should wait to change things until after the baby is born.

The main thing to consider, IMHO, is health insurance! :eek: It is very difficult to get a reasonably priced policy that will cover all you will need to have covered, especially with a baby! You will probably have to get individual policies, or perhaps you can find a family policy, but the cost is VERY HIGH! And you will not be members of a group... they can raise your fees all the time! This may not seem like a big deal, but when you consider retirement (I know, that seems far away) it is our major cost. When you get older, and life has caught up with you physically, it is harder to change insurance, due to pre-existing conditions.

Hopefully you will find some answers to this question. If you do, I say go for it! DH and I became much closer with the working together - we were only in the office together 1 day a week. We had several employees, so our experience may be different than yours will be. It can be very rewarding. I'll pm you as to what our business was, since I don't know who is on the boards... ;)

[MISSINDI]

Health insurance these days is outrageously expense for the small business owner. Not said to dissuade you, just make sure you consider that before going to the next step.

What about management consulting for your DH? It's a very profitable and BUSY business. I have a client I do work for on the side (typing, editing, proofreading, making presentations, etc.) and she does management consulting and training ... she is constantly swamped and turning down work and makes a small fortune.

Now the family aspect, I definitely have experience with that. I work for a company my parents' own. Started out PT as a teenager when it was growing, and the company (and me!) is celebrating its 20th year this year. One of the key things, in my opinion, is for everyone to have separate areas that they work on, and it sounds like you and DH can do that easily. Between me and my parents, we all concentrate on COMPLETELY different areas of the business. That's not to say everyone doesn't butt in from time to time to offer unsolicited advice, but this way we all control little pieces and aren't constantly get into each others' way. We're even in separate floors, in separate offices. :)

DH and I always have a business or two on the side (with a new one coming... ;)), so if you need anything else, feel free to drop me a line.

[Peggy]

My DH and I owned a business and worked together for over 7 years. We made the career change for similar reasons as you: my DH was traveling 3 out of 4 weeks each month. I was working fulltime in a stressful job and wanted to spend more time with DD. (She was 6 years old at the time). Plus DH was working his tail off for the company and making them all kinds of money but very little of it was showing up in HIS paycheck. He woke up one day and said he could be making the money for US, not the huge, impersonal company. I said, GO FOR IT!! So we did!

The business was a specialty pharmacy so that part would not apply to your situation. DH was the master mind and financial person; I was one of his pharmacists but also the Girl Friday or worker bee. I did whatever needed to be done in the office or the lab. No job was too small for me to do.

The pluses for me were more freedom in my work schedule: DH was my boss so if I wanted to volunteer in the classroom, go on a field trip or stay home with DD when she was sick - no problem! :) I had flexible hours and was able to be with DD when she got out of school. When she was older, we would bring her to the office in the afternoon while we worked and she did her homework there - not something you could do at most jobs. There was also work that I could do at home in the evenings after she went to bed and I would get paid for my time at home.

It was good for our marriage. When he traveled constantly for his previous job, sometimes I would get resentful with him being gone all of the time and missing important events in the family. When we had our own business, he was home every night and we became a complete family again.

I think it was critical that I worked in the business along side of DH. The hours were long and it was stressful at times but because I was his partner, I understood the problems and stresses he was under and could provide both practical and emotional support to him. Our marriage is stronger now and we have gained the confidence in knowing that there is very little adversity that we cannot face and conquer when we face it together. We have become a great team!

Health insurance for us and our employees was a major expense and it went up every quarter. :mad: But that is just a necessary business expense that isn't going to go away so you deal with it.

The biggest plus was the financial independance we gained for having our own business. We sold it over a year ago for reasons to complicated to get into here. We had worked VERY hard and put in very long hours (on-call 24/7) for over 7 years and we had an interested buyer. The time was right so we bailed and decided to take a long sabitical - kind of a creative mid-life crisis. We never would have been able to afford this precious time-off if we hadn't owned the business.

Good luck with your planning and congratulations on your future baby! :)

Peggy

[Jessica]

Thanks for all the replies so far. I really appreciate the insight and you've given me a lot to think about.

Just to clarify--our baby is due in 10 weeks! This is something we want to implement in the next few years and we are starting the process, but we have no plans for DH to quit and start a new business with a newborn :).

[RobinC]

DBF and I don't have children, but we do own a business together. Paul is an engineer and we sell some projects he's designed on our web site, he also does some custom design work.

He is a stay-at-home engineer working on our business full time. I have a day job and do the accounting for our business on evenings and weekends. We are pretty much always working. There is no getting away from the company. It's with us 24/7. It's difficult to take vacation as it pretty much means closing up shop while we are gone. Tensions with the business don't end at the close of the business day. They are with us 24/7 as well. He also made a lot more money before becoming self-employed.

Health insurance is an issue. I have coverage through my day job, but they do not cover opposite-sex domestic partners, only same-sex partners. Single policies for an individual range from about $125 - $350 per month.

After all that, I can say there are positive aspects as well. Paul is truly happy doing what he does. Now he has the ability to pursue which projects he feels inspired to do. There are no politics dictating what he will work on. If we don't like a potential project/client, we can say no.

As far as the money, we make enough to keep a roof over our head and pay for eating out when we want. We are not on a fast track to become millionaires, but we are happy with our quality of life.

[MISSINDI]

Health insurance for us and our employees was a major expense and it went up every quarter. :mad: But that is just a necessary business expense that isn't going to go away so you deal with it.

Our company's insurance went up 36% this year alone. It's crazy!! It goes up every year, but this is the biggest jump.

Jessica, one other thought... some companies offer full benefits for PT employees, so that might be something to consider. When we had our landscaping business years ago, my DH worked at Fedex, but instead of leaving, he downgraded to PT and was done with work by 11 am. Fedex has EXCELLENT benefits and full benefits are available to PT workers, including full medical, vision, dental, 401K, vacation, etc., so that might be something to consider as a way to avoid an extra BIG expense. UPS is another company that offers full benefits to PT employees.

Additionally, you and your DH can always start the business on the side, while still employed, giving it a chance to grow until you guys are confident enough to take the plunge.

[greysangel]

Fedex has EXCELLENT benefits and full benefits are available to PT workers, including full medical, vision, dental, 401K, vacation, etc., so that might be something to consider as a way to avoid an extra BIG expense. UPS is another company that offers full benefits to PT employees.


I've done a lot of reading about going into personal business with Chaz. We've done a couple of ventures..but they were always supplemental things..things to pay for hobbies etc. Starbucks I believe is another company with lots of bennies for PT peeps.

[Meganator]

My husband and I have had our own business since 1999, and we currently have 7 employees in addition to ourselves. It is more or less a continuation of the work we were doing at our previous company.

The big pro is the flexibility. We can set our own hours, and because we have employees that we have hired specifically because they don't need constant oversight, we are free to travel a lot more than if we were working for someone else. That doesn't mean we don't work a ton - it just means we do it on our own schedule. In our situation, it has also been financially lucrative, but that has come recently.

The cons are : yes, health insurance! We have to change carriers every year to get the best rate. That can be a problem if, for example, you have a pediatrician you really like and you have to switch to a carrier he doesn't accept. However, on a per-person basis, it isn't exorbitant; but I'm not sure how much it would change if it was just DH and I instead of a group of 8.

Also, as mentioned before, when you have your own business, it is with you 24/7. If you don't want to talk about work, then your husband does, and vice versa. And whatever the problem du jour is, it is always on your mind. For a while the big problem du jour may be "when are we going to start making enough money?" That is a big stress, so I wouldn't venture into this unless you have a big financial cushion to get you through while you are getting started. And, depending on your business and a lot of other things, that period could last a couple of years.

Lastly, make sure that you and your husband have the type of relationship that can stand you working together! DH and I always have worked together, and it would be weird for us not to. But I know a lot of couples who wouldn't work well together at all.

Overall, it can be a great experience, but go into it with your eyes wide open.

Megan